The Flying Machine was fun as it provided a same dizzying ride and some good speed, but a painfully slow loading process and really short cycle hurt it. Its certainly a cool flat ride thats quite dizzying and disorienting.

The Flying Machine was a promising flat that failed to capitalize on its potential. Among DaVincis Garden is this incredibly unique flat ride (it looked like a mini Huss troika). Well it was a walk-on and the ride looked very clean and decent. Then came the abysmal loading process. It took about 5-6 minutes to load, which is absolutely outrageous. Eventually the ride did began and I was very impressed. I went on expected a tame family ride, but got a fairly intense flat ride. The Flying Machine was quite fast and the spinning was extremely dizzying. Unfortunately the fun doesnt last as the Flying Machine is over after about a minute. I know Busch Gardens doesnt want to have long circuits to cut down on waits, but one minute is just sad. This definitely has the potential to get a 9 or 10 rating from me, but the long and tedious loading process combined with the outrageously short ride cycle hurts this ride.

Busch Gardens is easily one of the best park’s out there for sure, but unfortunately the park does have an Achilles heel- its flat rides. Let’s be honest, not only is the quantity severely lacking when compared to other major parks, the quality for the most part is abysmal and they really are an embarrassment to an otherwise flawless park. However, the Flying Machine manages to stray from the path of the park’s other flats and deliver one of the most intense spinning flats I’ve ever experienced at any park. And that ride is none other than the this rare Tivoli orbiter.

Located in DaVinci’s Garden of Inventions, the Flying Machine is probably the poorest looking of the three major flats in the area, but nonetheless it still looks good with its faded color scheme suiting the ride perfectly while giving the attraction a classic, rustic feel that allows it to fit in with the area flawlessly. Not only that, but as expected with Busch Gardens, there is some really nice landscaping surrounding the ride as the cars seem to be effortlessly skimming over the various bushes and trees adjacent to the ride from a distance.

And along with being visually appealing, the attraction was a walk-on whenever I went by during my visits back in 2006. However, you will have to wait a very long time before the attraction begins though since this is plagued by arguably one of the slowest loading procedures I’ve ever seen anywhere. It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that it took about 5-10 minutes before each ride to check each of the individual restraints. Ultimately, that might be the major reason there aren’t more of these around, which is a real shame as I would find out and this horrific loading procedure was the primary reason I only rode this wonderful attraction once during my visit.

At first glance this looks like a baby Huss troika, and in terms of size it is, but in no way is the ride “babyish”. Having never really heard any positives or negatives before about this attraction, I was expecting a relatively tame ride filled with some gentle swooping and spinning like the troika I had been on so many times in Maine, but I was pleasantly blown away by how forceful this attraction really was. The experience was incredibly dizzying thanks to its blistering operating speed, which really is an accomplishment since I rarely come off attractions dizzy anymore. During this time, there are some incredibly powerful laterals and the whole ride is quite disorienting, while it lasts. And that brings me to the major downside that truly holds the ride itself back, its far too short cycle. In all honestly, saying that the ride lasted just a minute would be a stretch in my opinion.

The Flying Machine is arguably one of the most intense spinning flats I’ve been on and easily the cream of the crop in terms of flat rides in a park really lacking in that category. Just the attraction’s raw power and sensational forces should make for a truly elite flat. However, this ultimately has two major flaws that really prevent this from living up to its immense potential in its horrid loading times and more importantly, the incredibly short cycle it features where if you blink, you’ll miss the ride. Nonetheless, if you’re a fan of dizzying flat rides, the Flying Machine is a must since its intensity will challenge anyone’s stomach to the extreme!

The ride is unique, and it is fun when it finally reaches its full speed. The problems with this ride though is a very short ride cycle, it takes forever to get going, then when it reaches full speed, it stops a few seconds later. Its also very slow to load and reload, thanks to a retrofit of the safety bar that allows only the ride attendant to unlock it. A longer ride cycle, a slightly faster top speed, and replacing the existing safety bar with one the riders can unlock themselves after the ride would make this ride much more enjoyable, to the point I would consider an 8 or 9 rating due to its location, theme, and uniqueness.

APPEARANCE-8 Great view of an incredible landscape area, the ride itself is a little dull but very well maintained. CAPACITY-3 Pitiful, the amount of time needed to check all the cars really kills the load time. RIDE QUALITY-4 Just way too short it felt like we only got about 5 rotations a full speed, it is a unique flat but I felt I needed more time to explore it. FUN-6 For its length it really delivered but to score higher they need to increase the ride cycle. That seems to be true for most flats at BGW. RERIDE-7 I would definately try this again with a short line and who knows I may actually have a longer ride. OVERALL 28 AVG 5.6 I will score it a six since the ride is really pretty unique.

A few years ago this ride was a little faster, but at some point they slowed it down and shortened it. This is a decent ride. Very unique and gives a good change of pace. I finally figured out what it is too, this is a Tivoli Orbiter.